The Zodiac Brave Story
by The Hellsfire Angel
Summary: A combination between Ranma and Final Fantasy Tactics. LEMON ALERT! RanxKas, UkyoxXianPu, RyogaxAkane, KodachixDeath! Don't know why the first few chapters are underlined, though...sorry about that
1. Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or the story lines I intend to cross over into it. I will say that I'm gonna cross over Final fantasy tactics and Final Fantasy 6 (or 3, as I know it) for some of the characters. I will probably add in a couple of OC's, but nothing you fine readers aren't used to J

A/N: As you guys probably guessed, I rewrote this story….I did in the past also, but I'm trying it one last time….I don't like quitting but I decided that if I can't do it now, I'm not gonna attempt it in the future….this one is gonna be short, but I'm also gonna see if enough people like it to write more….this is all dependant on the reviews I receive J

Chapter 1: Dreams

The gym was empty from the raids made on it earlier in the day, all that remained were the corpses from the students who died, and the group of martial artists that stood there now, calm but confused around the lifeless bodies.

Xian Pu, Ryoga, Ukyou, Akane, and Ranma all stood amongst the corpses and thought hard on their possible enemy.

"Who could do this? All these corpses have clean wounds, but they're all so...mutilated..." Ryoga said, crouching to see the corpse of Kodachi "the blackrose" kuno's many wounds, and gnarled limbs.

"Me no know," Xian Pu said, sitting on the stage.

"Yeah, me either," Ukyou said, poking a corpse with her giant spatula.Ranma Grabs the spatula and says in a nonchalant voice, "Don't disturb the dead...they don't like that."

"What, what do you mean?!" Ukyou yells at Ranma, but too late.Before anyone knows what's going on, the shadows come to life, sucking up everything into its never-ending void. Everyone watched in horror as the blood from the corpses was sucked up into the air, then shooting out into the darkness like a rocket. The void then began absorbing everything else, starting with Akane, who was watching the exit.

"Akane!" Ryoga screamed as he ran into the darkness to help Akane, the last anyone heard from them was their screams.

The darkness then came across the floor, forcing Ranma, Ukyou, and Xian Pu to run out of the back doors to the gym. Xian Pu turned down a hallway to the right, while Ranma and Ukyou continued straight. The darkness followed Xian Pu, but Ranma and Ukyou continued to run. After covering an impressive distance and making it to the gates to the school, they stopped to look back as they caught their breath.

"What..the hell..was that thing?!" Ukyou breathed between gasps.

"I...don't...know.." Ranma panted. The two hear running and look to see Xian Pu sprinting towards them, with the darkness on her heels.

"Run, I take care!" Xian Pu yelled to them, as she begins to lose pace.

They didn't even have to guess that she was tired; they just knew they had to run. Ranma and Ukyou ran a few steps before they turned to see Xian Pu get swallowed by the darkness as well. Her death screams were earsplitting, and shattered the silence of the neighborhood. Ranma and Ukyou began to sprint once again, but soon found themselves tired. Ukyou was the first to fuck up, as she tripped she let out a scream and the darkness took her as well. Ranma tried helping her, but the darkness already had her. As he turned to run, something grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the ground, where the darkness took him. He felt his flesh being ripped from his bones in a single, slow motion. He felt his blood rushing from his wounds as he slowly (and quite painfully) died.

Ranma woke up with a scream, feeling the sweat covering his body, he looked around. I'm..I'm alive. He thought. God, what a weird Dream...I wonder if it WAS just a dream?Ranma shrugged it off as he went to the bathroom to clean up. Afterwards, he went to the kitchen to see if Kasumi needed any help with breakfast.

Kasumi did her usual routines around the house, cleaned the living room, dining room, and drawing a bath in the furo, and then went about cooking. It's usually about this time that Ranma wakes up and asks her whether or not she needs help cooking, and she politely declines his assistance.

Ranma sneaks into the kitchen and cover's Kasumi's eyes with both hands. "Guess who, Kasumi." He teases.

"Hmmmm.." Kasumi smiles inwardly _Lemme play along_, she thinks. "Is that you, daddy?"

Ranma almost falls over from the shock of being confused with this girl's father. "N-N-NO!" He yells, releasing her eyes from his grip.

"Oh, good morning Ranma, you're up bright and early." She giggles from his expression and hands him the morning tea, "could you help me set up the table?" she asks as innocently as possible, which attracts a smile from Ranma.

"Sure," he says, taking the tea and walking into the dining area.

"Lord Velius, are you SURE we've found the blood angel?" A man draped in a dark, hooded cloak said, bowing down to his master, who wore a cloak of the same design, but of a dark green."Quacklain, do you remember last time we were awake? It's been a while, hasn't it? Trust me, 1000 years may have passed, but I can still sense the blood angel. Once we locate it, then what is our mission?" The man, Velius, replied with a tone of control."Milord, after we find it, we're meant to capture her and turn her into our Goddess, St. Ajora.""Good to know you still remember...now then, you're in charge of her capture.""Yes Milord."As the man, Quaklain, stood up to leave, Velius called, "Oh, and Quaklain?""Yes, Milord?""You know our policy on failure..don't disappoint me.""I won't Milord"

Ryoga walks into town for the zillionth time, but this time he has no interest in fighting for Akane, he has too many other things on his mind. He walks all over town, careful not to lose sight of the buildings, and eventually finds the cat café. He opens the door and walks in, only to find Xian Pu and Mousse gambling over a round of Poker.

"Hallo, pig-boy!" Xian Pu says cheerfully. "What you want?"

"I want to speak with Cologne...is she in, by any chance?" Ryoga asks as politely as possible.

"Yeah, lemme go get her for you, Ryoga." Mousse says.

Mousse gets up and walks out of the room, and immediately Xian Pu looks at his cards to find he has two of the cards she needs. She promptly steals them and replaces them with two of her own. Ryoga notices this and smiles, but when she sees his expression, Mousse walks in. Ryoga's smile only broadened, but Xian Pu held up some money and put her finger to her lips, signaling for him to keep quiet if he wanted some cash. He simply nodded and turned his attention to mousse.

"Well?" He asks, only getting a tap on the shoulder in response.

Ryoga turns to see cologne standing on a table, waiting to see what he wanted.

"Oh, cologne, hey, wanted to talk to you about something. What do you know about the 'Zodiac Braves'?" he asked.

"The...zodiac braves...hmmmm...well..." cologne ran the fingers of one hand through her hair (not on the top of her head, though, the stuff on her chin ) and paused, obviously deep in thought. "Hmmmmmmmm...I'm not entirely sure, but I think we may have contexts of that legend back at the Amazon tribe...I don't know off the top of my head." She said after a long moment of thinking.

"Ok, I'm gonna look for Ranma and Akane..I think they should know about this..this guy attacked me asking about the Tendos...he's stronger than anybody I've ever faced before, but he had this tattoo on his forehead that looked like the zodiac sign "Libra"...I gathered what I could off of that and learned rumors that there's 12 warriors that had markings similar to that called "zodiac braves"...but I don't know a thing beyond that."

"Ok, I'll gather what I can..Mousse?" cologne called on her employee, who immediately jumped up and went to see what the matter was.

"Yes, ma'am?" He asked.

"I want you to make sure Ryoga gets to the Tendo Residence..he has important business there, and we all know how bad his sense of direction is."

"Ha-ha, yeah, I'll take him there now..not like I can keep gambling, Xian Pu wiped me out with that Royal Flush!"

Ryoga smiled and the two men walked to the Tendo home.

Breakfast carried on normally in the Tendo home, what with Akane fuming at Ranma, Nabiki tallying her previous day's earnings, Kasumi smiling and serving the family, Soun reading the paper and Ranma/Genma Saotome gorging like there's no tomorrow.

Can you smell trouble? I think I can…but what could it be?? I guess we'll figure that out together soon enough, huh?

A/N: okay not the best start, I know, but it gets the job done and it introduces the possibilities of a new start to the story, ne? I'm scrapping the old one and putting up the new! This is gonna be slightly different but I'm gonna go in the same general direction as all this in the long run….I think….lemme know your take on it and I'll add it in to the newer chapters kk?


	2. The Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: Chapter 1 Says it all, folks!

A/N: I'm just gonna roll with this, k?

Chapter 2: The Plot Thickens

Ryoga and Mousse walked through the gates to the Tendo household and went immediately to the house itself (rather than to the dojo, where they would most likely find Akane training on the day off from school). Ranma was there helping Kasumi clear the table.

"Ranma Saotome," Ryoga said, catching Ranma off guard. He didn't say it in his usual menacing way, but in a way that suggested urgency.

"Uh, yeah Ryoga?" Ranma replied, he thought about the last time he saw Mousse and Ryoga together, when they ambushed him and strapped a giant bomb to his ankle. _I barely won that fight.._ Ranma thought to himself.

"I have some bad news that I think you should know about...This guy ambushed me in the streets the other day...he had a zodiac sign tattooed on him...I think he's a zodiac brave." Ryoga looked at Kasumi and smiled, "How's Akane, Kasumi?"

"Just fine, Ryoga, she's in the dojo if you'd like to see her." Kasumi replied cheerfully._Man, it'd probably take a nuclear explosion to wipe that grin off'a her face. _Ryoga and Mousse thought in unison with disgust.

Ryoga's smile broadened and he began laughing maniacally. "Wow, I get to see Akane working out!"

Ranma's foot planted itself in the boy's face. "First off, YOU would try something." Ranma removed his foot and continued, "Why do you think I should know about that attack, anyway?"

"Oh, guess I forgot to tell you that part." Ryoga replied, grief in his voice for not seeing his beloved Akane. "He wanted information on the Tendos."

"What does he know? What did you tell him?" Ranma was at Ryoga's throat now, gripping his shirt and lifting him off the ground.

"I didn't tell him anything besides the fact that he can't get close to 'em as long as you're here!" Ryoga yelled, gripping Ranma's wrist to try and loosen it.

Ranma dropped Ryoga and went into the house in silence. Kasumi was the only one to follow.

Ryoga and Mousse went to the dojo, one of them was eager to see Akane, the other was just following orders and being the guide.

Ranma was fuming and it wasn't helping that Ryoga and Mousse went to Akane's side. _Ah, who cares? _He thought, _We shouldn't be engaged anyway. Kasumi would make a WAY better wife, in my eyes..I shouldn't think like that.If it's truly a Zodiac Brave, then we're all in DEEP trouble...then again, maybe it's just Ryoga getting beaten by someone who has a crush. Could happen._

Ranma then noticed two hands massaging his shoulders, he turned his head slightly to see Kasumi.

"Is everything alright, Ranma?" She asked.

"Not if the Zodiac Braves are really back...they're the most dangerous creatures I've ever heard of Kasumi…they're not even human...they're demons that take over human hosts."

"How do they do that?"

"According to legend, it's through the Zodiac Brave stones...there's twelve of them, one for each zodiac sign."

"What would they want with us?"

"If it's really a zodiac Brave? It'll be looking for the "Blood Angel"..it's their sole purpose in life to find it...but legend doesn't say much about it."

"What is the blood angel?"

"Best not to worry about it, it's probably nothing anyhow."

Ranma rubbed his temples for a few moments before Kasumi brushed his hands away and began doing it herself.

"They'll want to take her to the city of the dead to revive St. Ajora…a greater devil...possibly THE devil."

"..her?"

"Oh, St. Ajora's a female, so the blood angel's gotta be a girl."

"How do you know so much about it?"

"I have friends in high places, and I was fed this stuff since I was little."

"By who?"

RIIIIIIING

"Phone," Ranma said, as he got up to answer it. As he picked it up, he said "Hello?" A few moments passed. "I see, I'm on it. It'd help me greatly if I knew who the blood angel is, though." Another moment passed before Ranma looked at Kasumi and hung up the phone.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm sorry...I'm not allowed to say right now….but we need to leave town…all of us…."

Cologne found what Ryoga was looking for, the information on the Zodiac Braves...and everything he said matched up..except for the fact that he didn't specify which Tendo it was after. _If I call everyone in..I may be able to figure it out with a spell...yes, and maybe recruit some help, as well.._

At the meeting, everyone attended. All the Tendos and Saotomes (save Genma and Soun, who were on another training mission), Xian Pu, Ryoga (who only found his way since cologne had assigned Mousse as his seeing eye dog), Mousse, Kodachi & Tatewaki Kuno, 

Ukyou, Happosai, and, of course, cologne.

"Why in the hells did you call us here, old ghoul?"

Cologne pointed to Ryoga, "Ryoga's brought some disturbing news to my aged ears..he's discovered the first of the zodiac braves."

Tatewaki Kuno dropped his hand on the table, making an audible thump. "And what is a "Zodiac Brave"?"

Ranma looked up, "A greater demon with only the thought of finding the blood angel on its mind..a creature that none of us stand a chance against alone..one of twelve demons that are meant to bring the world to an end...any of this getting through?"

From Ranma's words, everyone in the room let their jaws hit the floor...especially cologne. _How does he know all that?_

"Ranma-honey, where did you hear that?" Ukyou said.

"uh..old book?" Ranma replied. _Oops, they're not supposed to know about that! _He thought.

"Bull, someone's told you that, boy!" Happosai yelled, finally tearing his gaze from Xian Pu's perky breasts.

"Yes, I have to agree with Happy, someone had to have told you that." Cologne added.

"I did." An unknown voice in the back of the store said. Everyone turned to see the tall, dark figure of a large, muscular man standing in the doorway. He was around 6 feet tall, with red eyes and orange hair that spiked every which way but favored up. He had a light scar across his right eye and a small tattoo on the center of his forehead.

"And who are you?" cologne asked bluntly.

"Name's--"

Before he could finish, Ranma was on his feet and at point blank of the man. "Ifrit!!" He yelled.

"Uh, yeah, that's...uh..he he." the man, Ifrit, composed himself and walked into the room, where everyone saw him.

Ryoga was a bit shocked at the sight of the man. _That's the guy that attacked me! Well, maybe it's just luck..I'll wait to see what he wants before alerting the others._

Ifrit took a look around the room and said, "None of these people are strong enough to fight a zodiac brave and live...nobody except Ranma. Glad I'M the one who trained him, though...his sentiments would get in the way of him hurting me." Everyone was a bit confused about this, until the man, Ifrit, Pointed to the table that the tendo sisters sat at. "I've come for the three of you, and I'm not leaving here empty-handed."

When nothing but astonished stares and felled jaws greeted him Ryoga yelled "This is the man that attacked me earlier! He's the Zodiac Brave!"

Ranma had turned his head to regard Ryoga, then turned back to face Ifrit once again, who had gotten considerably closer and was now towering over Ranma.

"Yeah, I'm one of the enemies, actually," Ifrit said bluntly, "and unfortunately for you, I'm already in mid-transformation. In less than a minute, I'll be invincible against all of you."

Ryoga was the first to leap to his feet and attack Ifrit, followed closely by Akane, Xian Pu, Ukyou, Happosai, Ranma, Mousse, and the Kunos.

Ryoga landed a spinning round-house kick into Ifrit's chest, granting him a bruised leg. Xian Pu and Ukyou both hit the same spot with their fists, Xian Pu sprained hers, and Ukyou heard a pop as it dislocated. Happosai used his classic "Happo-Fire-Burn" technique, which didn't hurt Ifrit at all. Tatewaki Kuno's wooden blade splintered against Ifrit's head and Kodachi's tumbling kick earned nothing. Ranma's punch to the face got a thin trail of blood squirting from Ifrit's nose, and a cry of pain, but it hurt Ranma as much as it hurt Ifrit. Akane didn't do a damn thing to faze him. She had TRIED to sweep kick his feet from under him, but failed miserably. Ifrit grabbed Tatewaki Kuno's broken bokken, and hit Xian Pu and Ucchan in one swing, sending them flying across the room and hitting the wall with a loud thud, Xian Pu got right back up, but Ukyou was out cold.Xian Pu charged back in, while everyone else had the same effects, she and Ranma had different results. The momentum from running across the room aided her in sweeping the feet out from under him, but while in mid- air, she got up and punched him in the face, forcing his decent to focus on the back of his head. His head landed first, but he seemed unaffected by all of this. Ranma tried hitting him in the face, but Xian Pu's attack made Ifrit spin upside down, so Ranma simply managed to score a shot to Ifrit's thigh, but his fist glanced down and hit his balls, and scarred his pride. Ifrit got back up, fuming from pain, and hit Xian Pu again, sending her across the room, then he kicked Akane, sending her spinning to the same position as Xian Pu, neither one got up. He focused his attention on Ranma, then, and punched him in the ribs. Ranma felt his guts churn at the impact, and felt his ribs reach their limit and almost break, but he didn't get sent across the room.

Ryoga got pissed at seeing Akane get hit, and focused all his energy into one hit: Ifrit's left shoulder blade, which made Ifrit step forward a step to regain his balance, and dislocated the arm that Ryoga had hit. Tatewaki Kuno turned his attention back to Ifrit's nuts, seeing as how it worked for Ranma. He dropped to one knee and leaned backwards, forcing his other knee up and across Ifrits balls. Ifrit doubled over from the pain, and stumbled even further forward, towards Akane, Xian Pu, and Ukyou's unconscious bodies. Mousse finally got close enough for an attack, and replaced the broken bokken piece with a rubber ducky. He then pulled out some handcuffs and put one link around his wrist, but before he could get the other link onto one of Ifrit's limbs, Ifrit got up and scored a punch to Mousse's stomach. Mousse felt as though his guts were getting ripped out his asshole, and let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his guts.

Ifrit looked up to see Ranma's attack launched at his face, more specifically his eye. Ifrit fell backwards, but before his body touched the ground, he vanished into thin air.

"Damn, we almost had him." Ranma groaned.

"We need to get the Maidens out of here, now!" Tatewaki Kuno yelled.

Every warrior in the room seemed out of breath, sweaty, and/or unconscious.

Ryoga ran over to Akane's unconscious body and shook her awake. One by one, the unconscious people were awakened and a plan was thought out by the people who were there.

"What are we gonna do, Ranma? We're not gonna stay here and wait for that guy to come back, are we?" Akane asked, fear shaking her voice as much as pain.

"No, we're gonna get right the fuck outta here. We all meet up at the Tendo dojo in 30 minutes, we're gonna skip town, so anybody who's coming with better pack what they can carry and meet there."

Ifrit appeared in a lush forest about three miles to the southeast of Nerima.

Quacklain yelled in the back of his mind, a roar of power surging like a whirlwind in the crevices between Ifrit's ears.

"You weakling, you could have killed ALL of those useless brats right then and there!" Screeched the voice of the Zodiac Brave. "You're so pathetic! This is what I get for possessing the body of a Firefiend!"

Ifrit's psyche cringed in the corner of his mind, unable to do anything. "I can't kill Ranma, you fool, he's my--"

"Shut up, you worthless piece off kitty-litter!" Quacklain Shrieked, sending a piercing pain through Ifrit's temples. His body made no movements to rub the harmed body part, however.

"I'm not your peon, Quacklain!" Ifrit shouted in his head, "I'm the strongest Firefiend there ever has been!"

"Of course you're my peon, that's why I chose to send you there. You're a zodiac brave now, you should forget your sentiments about some BRAT you've only just met!"

"I helped RAISE that kid, you know, I'm not a fool. He's the reincarnation of the man who killed you a thousand years ago!"

"He's...Ramza Beoulve…?"

"Yes, and thanks to me, he's VERY angry at you Braves."


	3. The Blood Angel

Disclaimer: See chapter 1...I don't like repeating myself

A/N: well, if you're still reading….well I don't know what to say….thanks? Good job? Keep up the good work, you're not even halfway there yet? Lol, just enjoy the show….I'll try to help in whatever ways I can J

Chapter 3: The Blood Angel

Ranma looked out at the horizon from the cliff. _How long have we been out here? _He wondered. _I hope that Ifrit doesn't catch up to us.I don't want to have to kill him..._

Kasumi walked up behind him and rested her chin on his left shoulder. He tilted his head slightly as if to see who it was, but he already knew. Kasumi did this to try and ease his stress. She's gonna ask "what's wrong" soon, as usual. Ranma thought.but a moment passed, then another, then another, and still no questions. Just a very comfortable, very calm silence.

"I wonder how long it's been..." Ranma trailed off, thinking back to the day Ifrit came and attacked.

Kasumi wrapped her arms around his waist, and took comfort in the fact that she felt a muscular stomach, the kind you'd find on someone always ready for a fight. "Since we started traveling?"

A slight nod from Ranma, as the last trails of yellow turned to a bright orange on the horizon. The gulls were out now, and flying around below the cliff's lip. At the base of the cliff weren't the crashing waves from fairy-tales, but rather the calm, elegant ripples that slowly caressed the base of the mountain.

"I'd say about a week, give or take a day or two…but who knows, nobody kept count, and that forest we just came out of is dark around the clock." Kasumi replied.Ranma turned his gaze from the sunset, unable to keep the thoughts that haunted him at bay. "Why us? Why couldn't it have been somebody else? Somebody who was perfectly safe?"

Kasumi let Ranma go and looked into his eyes. "I'm not safe with you all?"

Ranma regretted his previous words then. "I didn't mean that..it's just. We don't stand a chance against Ifrit...not on our own..and the nearest reinforcements aren't for another couple of weeks..if he finds us on the road, then we're not gonna last long."

Kasumi stifled a tear that threatened to form on her delicate face.

Ranma tried not to look at her sad appearance, but looked over her shoulder at everyone setting up the camp. Ryoga, Mousse, and the Kuno's setting up a tent for the night; Akane, Nabiki, and Cologne setting up a tent for themselves and Kasumi for the night; Ukyou and Xian Pu setting up their tent for the night; and Happosai setting up the outpost Ranma and he would be sharing.

Ranma gained some strength knowing that everyone dropped their pathetic squabbles to help with the evacuation. Nobody even tried to grab him or glomp him in the days when they were making their ways through the forest, and Ryoga and Kuno stopped fighting over Akane after the second day, when they both learned Akane didn't give a damn about either one.

"Ranma, you never explained to us where we're going to be going…you kind of just.kept walking, and never looked back." Kasumi said, a little fear making its way into her voice.

"Oh, uh..I'm sorry, Kasumi-Chan…I'm just...not able to tell you guys at the moment…set up a campfire, it'll be dark soon.I'm gonna go help happosai." Ranma replied, giving her a hug, and then moving to go help happosai move the stones that would hold the winds of the night off the two as they watched their company.

Kasumi just sat there a moment, blushing furiously. She was smiling inwardly, though. Ranma-koi….he just called me Kasumi-Chan. 

Quecklain sat Ifrit's body near the corpse of the human they just finished torturing.

_Where could they be going? _Quecklain's voice echoed softly in Ifrit's head.

_Ranma's not a fool, Quecklain, he knows the rules of war, he's not such a dolt as to trust anybody with the information of where he's going...not if the stakes are THIS high_. Ifrit said calmly to Quacklain.

_Oh, well, where would he go, then? You know him better than anyone, Ifrit, so why don't you tell me EXACTLY where he's going?_

Ifrit's body smiled and it showed in the voice he used in his head. _Why don't you just beat it out of me? I'm never going to tell you, Quecklain, and you know that. The only reason you're getting the information from me that you ARE getting, is because you're slowly absorbing my soul.so you'll just have to be patient until you absorb ALL of me!_

As Ifrit had expected, Quecklain sent a course of pain through his body and mind. Ifrit's body fell face-first into the pavement and gurgled as it coughed up blood.

_I don't know about YOU, Ifrit, but I don't have that much time! & if I run out of time, then I'm going to need a new host, now aren't I?_

Ifrit smiled again_, then find one fast, Quecklain, but start searching now, because you just killed every human and other living creature for a 5 mile radius! You won't find another living host for another few days if you keep me alive. And if you kill me, then you'll be lost for ANOTHER thousand years! _

Everyone sat around the fire set up by Kasumi.

Ranma looked around at the tired faces of everyone at the fire. The tired, battle-weary faces of his comrades and friends.

Ranma knew just by looking at them that they deserved to know the truth.

"Everyone..I'm sorry I kept this from you for this long..but here's what I know about the zodiac braves."

"About time, kiddo." Happosai intervened.

"You wanna know this or not?" Ranma sneered at the old man. He never was a big fan of Happosai's, and he knew Happosai would do anything to know about these enemies.

"I'll be good," Happosai said, getting his puppy eyes and sitting like a tentative child in class.

"Good boy," Ranma snapped. "Ok, as you know, Ifrit's now a Zodiac Brave. The Zodiac Braves are beyond any of us in combat. He's also the most dangerous Firefiend there ever has been...so making an enemy of him isn't a good thing...and that's kinda what we did."

Cologne snapped at attention at the mention of the word "Firefiend". "What was that about Firefiends? Those are mythical creatures, Ranma; don't mistake a man who can bend fire to his will for a Firefiend, although I don't much blame you for that one; inexperienced as you are."

Ranma shook his head in dismay. "Cologne, didn't it occur to you when we were fighting him? Ifrit's not a human. He's a lesser demon, also known as a fiend. He's a creature that knows the art of flame, and can bend it to his will without needing to think about it. He's one of the ascended ones. The Espers."

Ryoga looked away from Ranma and into the fire, "That would explain why our attacks didn't even faze the bastard." He said.

Ranma nodded. "I don't know why, but he's accepted a zodiac brave to use him as a host.."

"Hold it!" Akane yelled, standing up and pointing at Ranma. "How in the hells do YOU know the guy, Ranma?!"

Ranma looked to the ground and a smile broadened across his face. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me, Akane."

Akane whipped out her mallet, "Oh yeah, well try me, 'cuz if you don't you're going OVER THE CLIFF!!"

Before anyone could note his reaction, before anyone could prepare for it, Ranma was on his feet, and point-blank to Akane. He had her gripped by the throat and in the air. "DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN ME!!" He yelled. "HERE I AM, TRYING TO PROTECT YOU AND YOUR SISTERS, RISKING EVERYTHING I'VE GOT TO HELP YOU OUT, AND YOU'RE DARING TO THREATEN ME?!"

Akane dropped her mallet and tried breaking Ranma's Iron grip on her throat. When his arm only applied more pressure to her neck, she looked into his eyes..which were now Fiery Red.

"Ranma...what..." Akane breathed. She couldn't inhale, however, as her windpipe was presently under too much pressure. Any more, she knew, and her neck would break.

Kuno, Mousse, and Ryoga were on Ranma's arms, trying their best to restrain him, after a few more seconds, Ranma turned his attention to them. "Get off me, you fools." He whispered, so that only they could hear. Before any could respond, a blast of wind circled around Ranma, knocking them off of his back, and carrying Akane with it.

Akane sat there gasping for breath, while the three men formed a protective barrier around her.

"That's enough! All of you, settle down!" a voice yelled from the woods.

Ranma turned to acknowledge the voice, and immediately kneeled after seeing who spoke the words.

All eyes fell on the new voice. Nobody could believe what stood before them. A creature, about as tall as Ranma, with a bright white flesh, brilliant blue eyes, and long white hair stood in front of Ranma.

"What was all the commotion about?" The voice asked Ranma.

After a moment, Ryoga was curious on whom he was referring to, since nobody responded. Another moment passed, and Ryoga tapped Ranma on the shoulder. "Who's this guy?" he asked..when he got no response, he tried tapping Ranma again..only to find that he was shaking. Rouga crouched down to look at Ranma's face, and saw a look of extreme FEAR on it.

Rouga looked at the new man and tried sensing his battle aura. He then knew why Ranma feared him.

Despite being one of the scrawniest people in the area, this man had EXTRAORDINARY power flowing from him..and it seemed like he was drawing it from an endless void.

"Who the hell are you?" Ryoga asked.

"I'm an old friend of Ranma's...hahaha, I'm here to help, don't worry.I brought reinforcements, as requested, Ranma."

Ranma stood straight and tall. "Y-You did?" he asked.

"Yes, and seeing as you're the commander of this group, I'd like to ask why you were strangling that poor girl to death."

Ranma looked over at Akane, then back at the man. "I'm.I'm sorry, Elder.I lost my temper.she's always been kinda mean to me.and I kinda lost it this time."

The man laughed a sweet, haughty laugh. The kind that you would expect Santa to do, only instead of "ho ho ho", it's "hahaha".

"Well, I believe you were going to get into our histories with these people..correct?"Ranma Simply nodded.

The man sat in Akane's former position around the fire and stated. "All you people must know is that the 12 Zodiac Braves are being awoken, and if we succeed, they won't be able to try harming anyone again for another thousand years..but if we fail..then they're going to end the world, by summoning a greater devil to possess the girl you know as Kasumi Tendo." 

Velius looked through the eyes of his new host. _Not much longer master Lionhardte, not much longer until I find YOU a host.then our numbers will multiply, and we'll once again be the 12 feared generals.tell me the man or woman you'd like to take over._

The stone held in the hand of Velius's host was a deep greenish black, and yet somehow pale. In the center of the round gem, there was a lion's head, wreathed in flame.The voice that sounded more like a lion's roar than words echoed in Velius's head.

_Get me the one whom can dance with the lightning._

Velius knew whom he spoke of. "Yes, Milord." He spoke to the stone.

Velius went back to his looking glass and willed it to show him Quecklain. Quecklain was a bloody mess, the host barely clinging to life.

"Quecklain, new mission, Return to our base." Velius ordered. "Lionhardte's new host has been located, I need YOU to go fetch him.alive and in tip-top condition. UNDERSTOOD?!"

Quecklain's host rolled over on its back and yelled at the sky "Fuck whoever is talking in my head. Fuck Quecklain and fuck whoever ELSE is talking!"

A moment passed, then Quecklain rose to the surface. "I'm sorry sire, but this host of mine is rather…feisty….are you certain that he's the one I need?"

YOU INSUBORDINATE FOOL!! Velius screamed into Quecklain's head, Return to our base IMMEDIATELY. I don't care what BODY you're in, but if you're gonna kill him, wait until someone else says whether they want him or not!!


	4. The Espers

Ranma lay back with Happosai in the outpost that the two built. It was unclear to him that Elder Fianna would care to join them. In the past, the Elder had always backed up the legends that Ranma was told..and after all, why should he doubt them? For all anyone knows, the "Durai Reports" were simply a hoax to make people think that the Zodiac Braves weren't simple acolytes, who followed a goddess flawlessly and blindly into their deaths...beyond that, nobody should care.

Ranma rolled on his side and closed his eyes. _Best not to think of things I don't understand, I suppose. _He thought. With that, he fell asleep.

Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Xian Pu, Ryoga, Ukyou, the Kuno's, and Mousse were all fast asleep, and after all, why shouldn't they be? They weren't used to anything political, or anything that was of any real value to the older, wiser people.

Cologne, Elder Fianna, Ranma, and Happosai, however, were all wide awake. After making sure that the others in the encampment were asleep, three shadowy figures went and awoke the two sleeping guards, and relieved them of their assignment. The two men went to the designated tent, and began coming up with a safer way of getting Kasumi to a safe hiding location.

Ranma came into the tent yawning, and stretching one hand over his head. There was really no need to shed his shoes, since that's all there was to wear around here, but he DID remember his formalities, and bowed to the older man the group spoke with before."Hail Elder Fianna," Ranma said as he bowed, keeping his eyes closed and facing the ground. As he came up, he let his eyes open, and took in the full view of the Elder.Elder Fianna, despite his age, was actually one of the most youthful looking men amongst his people. He looked around his mid-twenties (give or take a year or two), and looked scrawny, but still lightly muscled. He wore his platinum colored hair long, down to the base of his back, and shaggy like the mane of a lion. He had no facial hair, and had eyes the color of the sea after a storm. He had no noticeable scars but had green tattoos down the outsides of his arms that zigged and zagged in arcing motions that looked like a filled-in Celtic knot. His garb was a simple loincloth, supported by metal plates that covered his hips, and had straps going from those plates, up his back, and around his shoulders. On his feet he wore simple brown leather boots that were knee height.

"There's no need for formalities, Ranma, you know my title when we're in private." The old man replied as he walked towards Ranma. When he got close enough, he opened his arms to extend a hug. Ranma walked into the embrace and wrapped his arms around the man's midsection.

"You're right, sorry, gramps." Ranma smocked, gaining back his usual arrogance. When the hug was broken, Ranma took a few steps back. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping us?"

Fianna looked at Ranma and had no emotion showing on his face. "I'm helping you because it benefits mankind, and our people, Ranma. I'm helping you because you need all the help you can get."

Ranma looked at the ground around his feet at hearing this. Damn, he thought, guess Happosai and Cologne are figuring out what we are about now.

Cologne and Happosai both looked at each other with different reactions. Cologne (as always) had on the expression of hard knowledge, and of one deep in thought. Happosai simply shrugged this new situation off and leaned back to go to sleep.

"What are your people?" Cologne asked the Elder.

"You mean you have all the wisdom of all these humans, but do not know of the Espers?" Fianna asked in return.

Cologne got a look of sheer horror on her face. "The Espers?!" she could barely manage to whisper the word. The Espers, the ancient gods who enslaved humans all those years ago.the ones who control our destinies…Ranma's a part of their race? That means.

"Ranma," Cologne began, "You knew that something of this nature was going to happen, didn't you? You probably were training your whole life for just this kind of situation, right? That means that you can-"

Ranma interrupted her by raising his hand to her accusations. "I had no idea. My dad wasn't ever a part of this race, and I can't to anything to alter this path that we're currently on, because I've never seen this before. I had no idea that we'd be in such deep shit, and I haven't prepared for the situation I've never known about...I'm powerless to stop this from taking place."

Cologne stared into Ranma's chest for a long moment before saying. "Where do we go from here?"

All was silent for a long time, but as the sun began to rise, a plan was formulated.

"So it's agreed?" Fianna asked. "We're taking the girl known as 'Kasumi' to the other realm, where Espers rule?"

Ranma nodded, and Cologne said "Yes, of course." Happosai, on the other hand, simply snored loudly.

Kasumi was up early, preparing a large meal for everyone who assisted with her clean escape. _I wonder what happened to Ranma-koi and master Happosai. _She thought to herself. She then realized that she'd been thinking of Ranma as "Ranma-Koi" for some time now, and blushed furiously. The sun began to rise on the horizon that was the ocean, and Kasumi's fire was beginning to cook the meat and vegetables that were gathered the day before in the woods.

Ranma saw Kasumi staring into the fire and set the food on when the sun rose.and noticed her blush. The two were alone in the encampment, as everyone else was still asleep and wasn't gonna wake up for another hour, or were watching over everyone else.Ranma walked as quietly as he could to Kasumi's back, and lightly put his hands over her eyes. "Guess who," he said quietly.

Kasumi, who was still quite tired from the week they'd been on the road, wasn't up for games. "Is that you, Ranma-koi?" she asked.

Ranma couldn't keep his hands to her face anymore . _Did…she just call me Ranma-koi?! She actually thinks of me in that manner? .man and I'm her sister's fiancé!_

Ranma shook his head at his thoughts. Kasumi turned around, not knowing a thing had changed his appearance besides his lack of sleep. "I knew it was you!" she said happily.

Ranma couldn't contain himself, here he was, playing games, when he found the only likeable girl liked him back. He reached out and grabbed her cheeks gently with his palms. The next minute lasted an eternity for the two as their lips were pulled together by Ranma's hands.

That kiss only lasted a minute, but it might as well have lasted the rest of their lives. Ranma and Kasumi knew then that they truly loved each other.

Ukyou and Xian Pu, having wittingly volunteering to share a tent for the night, decided to make use of it in the night. They had grown very close to each other over the past week and a half, after all. Ukyou woke up with her head on Xian Pu's sweaty, naked chest. She realized that she was naked, but as the memories of the previous night washed over her, she didn't really care. She brushed some of the sweaty hair from Xian Pu's face, revealing a bite mark on her eyebrow.

_Did I do that? _Ukyou thought as she rolled onto her stomach to tease Xian Pu's nipple with her teeth. When Xian Pu opened her eyes, then closed them and groaned, Ukyou became aroused quickly. _Well_, she thought, _at least we stayed long enough for a morning after!_


	5. Zodiacs Assemble

Disclaimer: Chapter 1...getting the idea yet?

A/N: just something to give insight of how the enemies for this story (most of 'em anyway J) have built themselves hierarchically.

Chapter 5: The Zodiacs Assemble

Quecklain took the stone, but wasn't truly happy about his new assignment. He began his search as soon as he got the stone, and looked all over Japan for the Esper known as "Ramuh". Quecklain and Ifrit didn't have as many feuds anymore, but they still didn't like each other, or the prospect of sharing a body any longer than absolutely necessary.

Ramuh, as it would seem, didn't truly like making himself public, so finding him was a bitch for Quecklain, but at least the wounds that plagued Ifrit's body were healed now, and weren't going to reappear until it wasn't necessary to keep Ifrit alive anymore.

Quecklain walked down the streets of Tokyo and kept his eyes and ears open for any signs of an Esper. He caught on to one and trailed it as he found an alley to corner it in. The Esper walked into the trap, seemingly on accident, but it found itself in a corner, and Quecklain closed in for the kill.

Quecklain noted the appearance of the Esper. It took the shape of an old man. It had a long beard that flowed down his height to his ankles. It wore loose robes that flowed into shades of blue and silver, and cascaded loosely around its body, giving hardly any evidence of what its underlying body's size truly was. Quecklain couldn't see its face, but knew that this had to be Ramuh..since there were electric shocks going around the alleyway now.

Quecklain stifled a cry as one of those shocks hit him, and coursed through his body, sending pain through his spine, and making him loose control of his bladder.

He bit through the pain, and ran straight at Ramuh, who was chanting the spell "Judgement Bolt". Ramuh got to "Grant my enemies what they deserve" before he got the Zodiac Stone shoved halfway down his throat. Ramuh felt another presence enter his mind, and his body shifted and mutilated itself until he took the shape of a humanoid-lion creature. An explosion of greenish energy shot from his body and pulsated with every motion that was made.

Almost done, Quecklain thought, just a little more, then my TRUE master will be born.Quecklain watched in wonder as energy flowed THROUGH him, but didn't seem to touch him. It was quite an amazing site, but then the energy flowed through some passers-by and killed them instantly. The transformation finished just as quickly as it began, but when it was all over, the being known as Lionhardte, took the shape of the creature it just possessed. Slight differences could be noted, however. The eyes changed from a strange yellowish-gold to a greenish black, and the jaw line was more defined now. Hell looked back at Quecklain through those eyes, and he bowed before it.

"Welcome back, master of the Lucavi, Lionhardte." Quecklain said at nearly a whisper.Lionhardte smiled and rested a hand on Quecklain's shoulder. "Don't worry, Quecklain," he said, "your past failures are noted, but are forgiven. It's good to be back.now lets do what we almost succeeded in last time..who's the blood angel?"

Velius looked around the room at the smiling faces, and couldn't help but agree with them.

In it were several related beings. There was a dark knight, named "Diablos", who was one of the stronger Zodiacs. He took on the name of the counterpart who he possessed. There were 3 Holy swordsmen (4 including him). One of them was a female host. And 6 Divine knights, which had 2 female hosts.

His brothers and sisters were all gathered for the return of their eldest, and the strongest, of their kindred.

_Quecklain better not have failed me this time. _Velius thought with disgust, but knowing him, he probably got himself killed or something equally ridiculous.

Three knocks sounded at the entrance to the restaurant that was now the new home of the Zodiac Braves. They took over what was known as the "Cat Café" and killed the few humans who hadn't fled the town.

Velius pointed to Diablos and signaled for him to get the door. He complied and got down on one knee instantly, allowing everybody to see their eldest. They all paid their respects to lionhardte.

Lionhardte raised his hands, which meant everybody should rise, and everyone did. He and Quecklain walked into the Cat Café and sat down, everybody followed suit and relaxed.

"Let it be known," Lionhardte announced in a bellowing voice that resounded from his old man's form in an amazingly booming fashion. "Let it be known, that the descendents of Lucavi are now complete..let us begin building our armies, so we may capture the Blood angel..and end this failed experiment called life..once and for all."All bowed, and were relieved that the plan to gain back St. Ajora could continue unhinged.


	6. To the Gate!

Disclaimer: UGH do I have to say it every time?! CHAPTER 1, TELLS THE STORY. READ IT!

A/N: Don't have much to say about this one, actually.

Chapter 6: The Gate

Everyone gathered for breakfast, and Ranma, Cologne, Happosai, and Fianna all waited patiently to tell the others their strategy.

When everyone came and ate, they laid out a detailed map of Japan, and Fianna pointed at a red dot made on it. "This, boys and girls, is where we are. The red dot that I'm presently pointing to is a place exactly 15 miles to the southwest of 'the gate'."

Mousse looked skeptical "The gate? You couldn't think of a better name?"

Ranma held up a hand saying simply "Any more details and our people would be known to humans and we'd be attacked..that's what happened last time, and we decided that we should never let humans know of us."

Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi all looked up in surprise. "Wait," Nabiki said, "you mean that you're not human?"

Fianna shook his head and replied, "No, neither of us, nor my unit for that matter, is human. Now can we PLEASE get back to the task at hand?"

The three girls nodded and let him continue. Fianna just smiled and pointed to the northwest at a black dot. "We are traveling to the gate because it leads to a holy ground that is a virtual impossibility to infiltrate. This is the safest place for Kasumi right now. We are to take her to the gate, and you humans are to help us fight off any resistance that will delay us."

Ryoga stood and took a step forward. "Why the hell should I help YOU?!" he yelled.

Ranma slammed his fist on the map and shouted, "Because if you don't I'll kill you!" when everyone stared he continued, but at a whisper. "I have no time to fight you people, we are either all together, or all against each other. If we are against each other, we're not going to stay in a formation. We'll split up and those who can't follow directions will leave. If anyone tries to change our operations or turn on us, I don't have time for their shit. I'll kill anyone who gets in our way."

Cologne smiled at this, "Spoken like a true general, Ranma..I'm glad you're leading this operation."

Kasumi simply fainted from the excitement.

"Quecklain?" Velius asked across the room.

"Yes, elder brother Velius?" the demon within Ifrit's body asked.

"Would you be so kind as to go to the gate with a small force and see what's taking that Fianna so damnably long?"

"Yes, milord," Quecklain replied, turning to leave the room.

Lionhardte appeared from the shadows behind Velius. "Are you sure that Fianna is trustworthy, Velius?" he asked quietly, and with no emotions present on his face nor in his voice.

Velius didn't turn, didn't even blink at this. "You know, I just don't know anymore. I never even expected him to follow through with getting you a new body. He's quite hard to figure out..but he gave me some disturbing information, eldest."

Lionhardte's eyes went wide as he heard the next tidbit of information. "Quecklain told me that this 'Ranma Saotome' is the reincarnation of the man who sent us away 1000 years ago...that he's this generation's 'Ramza Beoulve'."

Lionhardte spent the next second contemplating the next move. After another moment's thoughts, his eyes turned to slits, and his mouth turned into an upturned sliver. "Fine, then," he said finally, "I'll take care of this matter personally. Tell Quecklain to take my unit and I'll go to the gate with him."

The day wore on and minutes seemed to pass like hours until finally the cave they were looking for came into view. They entered slowly and cautiously as monsters had been employed to patrol these caves and they didn't want to fall into some kind of ambush.

Ranma lead the way upwards through the caverns and by evening the group had all assembled at the gate's entrance. It was a decently sized area, a circular room about 50 feet in diameter, and had along one side of the room a 20 foot long Arch that was supported by two pillars. The Pillars and Arch were the only characteristics of the room that seemed out of place, and also happened to be the only thing with strange markings on it.

Once everyone was in the room, Ranma and Fianna began to approach the Arch. And 12 figures leapt from the shadows to completely encircle the group. 2 of the figures recognizably had zodiac signs on their foreheads and the others were faceless, but still appeared to be powerful.

Ranma and Fianna stood back to back, and the rest of Ranma's camp encircled Kasumi protectively.

A/N: Yes, cliff hanger! I just want everyone to know that I'm gonna start the newest chapter continuing this story soon! It will be posted when I've had sufficient reviews!


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